Lisa Leatham, Principal
Veneta Elementary invites all families and friends to our annual Open House on Thursday, October 8th. We want to show off our new library and give parents the chance to visit classrooms and meet teachers. The doors will open at 6:30 PM. In addition to meeting teachers, PALS will be here to sell Veneta T-Shirts/Sweatshirts, Smencils, and more.
PALS will also provide ice cream treats and popsicles on our playground for families after they visit classrooms. Thank you PALS! We hope to see everyone there!
Update: As you may know, our great new 3rd grade teacher Mackenzie Knox is also the head coach of Elmira High School’s volleyball game. Unfortunately on October 8th the EHS Volleyball team has their big match against Junction City, so Ms. Knox will not be at open house to meet and greet parents. Ms. Knox will be hosting her own “classroom open house” on Wednesday, October 7th at 6:30 to 7:30 for parents of students in her classroom.
This year all of our students will be accessing an online math program called IXL. IXL allows students to practice specific math skill at any grade level. Students are given immediate feedback and if their answer was wrong, the program shows them their mistake. All students will be accessing IXL when they are in the computer lab and some students are receiving additional practice with IXL to build their math skills as part of our Title program this year.
Students and parents can also access IXL at home. Parents can check their students progress and students can practice their math. Below is a link for more information on IXL and how it can be used at home. IXL can also be used to challenge students as they can work at higher grade levels in IXL or practice more difficult concepts.
Older children should know their password and user name. If they don’t or if your child is younger, feel free to email me at ojohnson@fernridge.k12.or.us and I will send it to you.
We want to give all parents a heads up that the Veneta Street Preservation work taking place September 29th thru October 2nd may impact bus schedules and bus stops.
The city will be working on different streets each day and buses may need to detour around those streets.
For a detailed map of which streets are being worked on which days, please follow the link below to the City of Veneta website and look under Street Preservation Project.
Here is the link:
Our Jog-A-Thon is a great way to have fun and raise money for our school. Funds will go to support great activities for our students including Outdoor School and Field Trips.
Students raise money for the Jog-A-Thon by asking family, friends, and people they know to sponsor them. Then on October 16th, each class will take to the track for 30 minutes of walking, running, skipping, and just moving to fun music. Parents and other family members are invited to join their child on the track or just simply cheer from the sidelines.
Students can earn prizes for raising money for our school. Continue reading
Construction Equipment
Great News! We are on track to be able to use our new front entrance beginning Monday, September 28th. In the morning, all students will go through these doors except for 5th grade and kindergarten. Fifth graders and kindergarten students should go directly to their classroom when they arrive, unless they are eating breakfast. First through fourth grades students should go to the gym when they arrive. At 7:35 first and second grade will be dismissed to the classroom followed by 3rd and 4th grade at 7:40. Students having breakfast will go to their classrooms when they are finished with breakfast.
Dismissal at the end of the day will be different. Grade levels will dismiss according to this list:
Kindergarten: Dismiss from Peirce/Old Entrance
First Grade: Dismiss from New Entrance
Second Grade: Dismiss from Old Entrance
Third Grade: Dismiss from New Entrance
Wyncoop/Guill: Dismiss from Old Entrance
Chen/McGuire/Beller: Dismiss from Classroom
Parents picking up students can wait on the covered walkway between the old and new entrance. Thank you for your patience over the last few weeks as the construction crew worked hard to get this important area functional for us.
They will still be working on the “finishing touches” but that work will mostly be done after school hours.
Do you have an hour a week to volunteer? Want to make a difference in the life of a child? You can become a SMART Volunteer at Veneta Elementary School.
SMART stands for Start Making A Reader Today. The program brings volunteers in contact with children who need to practice their reading skills. SMART volunteers listen to children read books and sometimes read books to children. SMART volunteers work with the same students each week and a real bond develops between the student and the volunteer. Students love their SMART volunteers and the volunteers adore the students they work with.
Student who participate in SMART also get free books throughout the school year.
Our SMART program will start in October and is currently looking for volunteers. The more volunteers SMART can recruit, the more students can be helped by SMART. For more information on how to be a SMART volunteer, contact Sue Craig through the Veneta Elementary School Office at 541-935-8225.
At
tention Readers: In October we will be kicking of our 2015-2016 OBOB school competition. Third, fourth, and fifth grade students can form teams and enter the school competition. Sign ups will be in October and the actual competition itself in January/February. The winning team from our school will compete in the regional competitions in March.
Students interested in participating in OBOB this year can start reading the OBOB books now and start putting together their dream team of four students.
To help alleviate that congestion, we are creating a temporary parent-pick up location just in front of the north end of the main building beginning 9/11/2015. There will be signs for parents. We will bring children to that area who are going to be picked up and ask that parents, instead of waiting by the doors, wait there for them. That leaves the area in front of the doors free for classes to walk through to get to the buses. This will be a temporary parent-pick up location until the main entrance is completed.
Also a reminder to parents, that teachers main job during dismissal is to ensure that their students get on the bus safely. They would be happy to answer your questions or connect with you once all of their students are on the bus.
We appreciate your patience while construction takes place. We know that you will be amazed at what this building looks like when its finished and how much better it will function for years to come.
Thank you
Olivia
Everyone is invited to join us for our first parent group meeting of the 2015-2016 school year. PALS will meet on Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30. There will be coffee and deserts served along with free childcare. PALS needs your help to plan a year of wonderful events and activities for our school. We have some great ideas but we also very open to new ideas. We really want your input and your energy to help PALS succeed.
Please join us and help us to give our children the very best school we can! Check out the Veneta PALS Facebook page for more information or email them at venetapals@yahoo.com
Just a reminder to all parents that our first Wednesday early release is tomorrow (September 9th.) School will end at 12:45. School starts at 7:55. And thank you to everyone for making our first day of the school year a successful one.